… I ran the Boston Marathon. Without training for it.
I was a dedicated runner at the time but had never gone farther than 10 miles. The Friday before the race (which is always held on Patriots’ Day, a mid-April Monday), forecasters predicted perfect marathon weather: cool but not too, overcast, with a west wind to push runners along.
I...

Today I finished the first draft of Purgatory Chasm, the third Conway Sax novel (I got that working title here). Various Twitter and Facebook pals have urged me to enjoy an adult beverage or three this evening in celebration. (Truth be told, nobody said anything about this evening – they want me to start drinking right now.)
Trouble is, I’m a...

You want a model railroad? A massive, overengineered, perfect-to-the-last detail, obsessed-over model railroad? Call a German.
(The not-quite-right English translation here is kind of endearing. Near the end, listen as “house of ill repute” becomes “house with a bad reputation.”)

Second in a 3-part series
Part 1 of this overlong post addressed the modern method of procuring a family dog – and found it wanting.
Once you get the dog home, things get worse. Again, my point of comparison is the 1960s and 1970s, before the ninnies and the nannies took over.
Back then, once you got the mutt (and indeed it was a mutt) home and...

Is U2 good anymore? I don’t know and I don’t care. Reviews of the band’s new album, “No Line on the Horizon,” are mixed, and I know many folks are good and sick of frontman Bono’s political posing.
Ah yes, posing – the subject at hand. Specifically, band pictures. Remember how cool you thought they were when you...

First in a 3-part series
My family inches ever closer to buying a dog, and this is a fine thing. You know how there are cat people and dog people, and never the twain shall meet? I’m an exception: while deep down I’m a cat person (we’ve owned four, including Herschel the Best Pet Ever and the two malcontents staring at me right now), I...